Pinless adjustable diaper



Aug. 2, 1949. R. o. WEBB 2,477,914

PINLE'SS ADJUSTABLE DIAPER Filed April s, 1948 I I1 vento r Robert 0. Webb Patented Aug. 2, 1949 drum-ran l-1 sm'res PATENT AOFFICE PINLESS ADJUSTABLE DIAPER 7 Robert 0. Webb, Petersburg, .Va.

' Application April 6, 1948, Serial 'No.."19,418

in an' adjustable manner to comfortably embrace various sizes of infants waists.

Y; A'notherimportantobject of the present invention isto provide a baby diaper including novel and'improved means for securely fastening the same in place to a baby without the necessity of having to employ pins or the like which frequently 'harmfully affect infants.

- A=further"object of the 'presentinvention is to provide apinless adjustable'diaper including a sheet of foldable material, a pair of spaced'anchoring strips carried by the material and a belt fixed to one of the anchoring strips and engagea'ble with bothof the anchoring strips to provide an adjustable waist opening which will comfortably'embrace an infant or thelike.

A still further aim of the present invention is to provide an adjustable diaper of the pinless type'that is simple and practical in construction, strong and reliable in use, convenientlyfoldable,

neat-and attractive in appearance, and otherwise well adaptedfor the purposes for which the same is intended. 1

Other objects and advantages reside in the detailsof construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming :part'hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of thepresent baby diaper in an open or unfolded position;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the pres- "e'nt babydiaper in a folded: position with one'end -':of the holding strap disengaged from the anchoring strips; .and,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showin the present baby diaper in assembled form applied to an infant.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the numeral it) represents a substantially r ctangular or square blank of flexible material preferably absorbent to moisture, such as a gauze, cotton or cloth material. The longitudinal edges of this material are folded inwardly and secured to themselves by stitching or the like l2 and M to further reinforce the material and to prevent unraveling thereof.

Fixed to the material adjacent the longitudinal edge is thereof, is a first substantially rectangular anchor strip ls'thatsupports a plurality of longitudinally spaced male snap fasteners :20.

'Thishhchor strip 18 is-provided with a longitudinal side edge 22 that aligns or defines a longltudi-nal' fold line 24 providedin thematerial and spaced parallel to the'longitudinal edge It.

- Rigidly secured to the material It by stitching or the like- 2B, is a substantially rectangular second anchor'strip za that supports a further plurality of I longitudinally-spaced male snap fasteners 3!]. This anchor strip 28' is provided with a longitudinal' edge 32 that aligns or which defines a further longitudinal foldline 34 for the material ll).- Also, this anchor strip-28 includes transverse side-edges -36 and 38 'that also defineior'align spacedpaial lel transverse fold lines 40 and 42 for "the material" I 0.7

's-trip" l8 by stitching or the'like -M; is a central Fixedto the central portion of the first anchor portion 46 of a=substantially rectangular and flexibleholdi-ng beltor strap '48 and supports a plurality of"longitudinally spaced female snap fasteners 51! which are engageable with either the "malesnapfasteners zll"of the first anchor strip l8 or the male. snap fasteners 30 I of the second anchor strip '28.

-Itshou1d-b'e noted that there is'provided a pair of side panel's 5za'nd 54 between the transverse fold lines ll 'andfl and the transverse side edges 55 and as of the materiall9 andthat the side panels-"52 a'n'd'fi l'are preferably of a width equal to one-half the 'width of the material l9 whereby when" the same are folded inwardly upon one facer'o'fthematerial III the then formed article "34 and longitudinal edge-6B "of the material II],

respectively, is provided a back or rear panel 62 and a forward panel 64.

In practical use of the present diaper, as shown in Figure 1, the side panels 52 and 54 are first folded inwardly upon the inner face of the material I 0 to provide a double thickness for the same. Next, the forward -pane164 and rear panel 62 are folded inwardly along fold lines 34 and 24 to engage the side panels and overlie the central Portion 66 of the material It in which form the article will assume the configuration illustrated in Figure 2. The female snaps 50 on the belt 48 are engaged with a suitable number of the male snap fasteners 20 on the first anchor strip [8, the ends of the forward panel are then extended between the free ends of the strap or belt 48 and against the anchor strip l8 as shown in Figure 2, and the remaining unfastened or unsecured female snap fasteners 50 are engaged with the male snap fasteners 30 which are carried by the second anchor strip 28. Such an Operation will form a waist opening 61 and a pair of leg openings 68 and ill. To increase the circumference of the waist opening 51, it is merely necessary to disengage the fasteners 5B of the belt 48 from the fasteners 30 carried by the anchor strip 28 and to pull outwardly on the panel 66 and the portion of the material opposing the same, until the panel opposes or is disposed between a selected pair of fasteners 28 carried by the anchor strip IS. The fasteners 50 of the belt 4 6 are then engaged with the fasteners 2|] up to the position adjacent the panel 66, whereupon the ends of the belt 48 overlie the anchor strip 28 and are secured to the fasteners 30 carried by the latter.

Obviously, any selected circumference of the waist opening 6'! may be maintained by merely adjusting the belt 48 with the anchor strips l8 and 28.

It should be noted that although portrayed in the drawings there is disclosed a substantially rectangular sheet of material Ill, obviously, the same could be rectangular or any other suitable shape, the only requirements being that the fold lines 24 and 34 be parallel to each other as well as the fold lines and 42.

It is noted, that all of the male snap fasteners, namely, 20 and 30 will be protected by layers or thicknesses of material to prevent the same from pressing into or harmfully affecting the infant about which the present diaper is applied.

Obviously, the blank forming the present diaper could be so folded so that the side panels 52 and 54 would overlap each other whereby the 'diaper would include more than only two layers,

thus providing additional thickness for the same. However, the anchor strips would still outline and define the central portion 66.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings itflexible material having a pair of spaced parallel fold lines, a first anchor strip fixed on the material adjacent one of the fold lines and supporting a group of snap fastener halves, a second anchor strip fixed adjacent the remaining fold line and supporting a further group of snap fastener halves, and a holding belt carried by the first anchor strip and supporting a group of snap fastener halves for selectively engaging the snap fastener halves carried by each of the strips to provide a waist opening.

2. An adjustable diaper comprising a substantially rectangular sheet of flexible material having a pair of longitudinal fold lines adjacent its longitudinal edges and a pair of transverse fold lines adjacent its transverse edges, side panels provided between the transverse fold lines and the transverse edges of the material, a forward panel provided between one of the longitudinal fold lines and one longitudinal edge of the material, a rear panel provided between the remaining longitudinal fold line and the remaining longitudinal edge of the material, a first anchor strip fixed on the material adjacent the back panel, a group of snap fastener halves carried by the first strip, a second anchor strip carried by the material adjacent the forward panel, a further group of snap fastener halves carried by the second strip, a flexible belt having a central portion fixed to the first strip, and another group of snap fastener halves carried by the belt engageable with the snap fasteners carried by said first and said second strips for providing a waist opening for the diaper.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said first strip and said second strip include longitudinal outer edges alignin the longitudinal fold lines of said material.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein one of said anchor strips includes transverse edges spaced parallel to the transverse edges of the material and aligning the transverse fold lines for the material.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein the combined widths of the side panels are equal to one half the length of the material.

ROBERT O. WEBB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,941,677 Friedman Jan. 2, 1934 2,301,277 Hazen Nov. 10, 1942 2,425,617 Hazen Aug. 12, 1947 

